On July 8, 2012, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law the fiscal year 2013 state budget (“State Budget”), which included amendments to the Massachusetts pharmaceutical and medical device code of conduct law, Mass. Gen. Law. ch. 111N and 105 Mass. Code Regs. 970.000. The amendments will allow pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to, among other things, provide restaurant meals to health care professionals during certain educational programs. The original statute required that all meals provided to health care professionals by pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers be limited to the hospital or office setting. For an overview of the Massachusetts Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Code of Conduct and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (“DPH”) implementing regulations, see the Epstein Becker Green Client Alerts available at http://www.ebglaw.com/showclientalert.aspx?Show=8935 and http://www.ebglaw.com/ showclientalert.aspx?Show=9522.
This Alert provides an overview of the amendments from the State Budget and discusses some key considerations for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers as they seek to implement these new provisions.
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